In case you don't recognise the first bloke, he was our ninth Prime Minister. James Henry Scullin was born in Trawalla, Victoria to Irish immigrants. As a young man during the 1890s depression years, he worked at any job he could find in mines and on farms. At night and on weekends he studied at evening classes and in public libraries. Scullin joined the Labor Party in 1903. He was a devout Roman Catholic, a non-drinker and a non-smoker all his life.

In 1906 Scullin ran for federal parliament and was defeated. He was elected the member for Corangamite in 1910. After he losing his seat in 1913 Scullin edited the Labour Newspaper the Evening Echo for eight years. In 1922 he won a by-election for the safe Labor seat of Yarra in inner Melbourne, and in 1928 he was elected Labor leader following the resignation of Matthew Charlton.

The conservative government of Stanley Bruce introduced unpopular industrial relations bills. In the 1929 election Scullin campaigned as the defender of the industrial arbitration system and won a landslide victory. Bruce lost his seat in parliament. A week after Scullin was elected on 17 October 1929, the New York stock market crashed and Australia became caught up in the worldwide Great Depression.

This is a brief review of my first Dylan Album. 'With God on Our Side' is a thought-provoking song. It notes how the public seems to always blindly support war. 'Only A Pawn in their Game' also has poignant message regarding racism and violence. Sadly these songs still seem relevant in 2009. (Despite a new government Australia still has 120 Soldiers in Iraq!!) 'When the Ship Comes In' is a great song of hope that brighter days will come. In 1963 Dylan performed 'Only a Pawn in their Game', 'When the Ship Comes In' and 'Train A-Travelin’ at the civil rights rally where Martin Luther King Jr gave his “I have a dream” speech. It’s exciting to see the times are a-changin’ in politics on both sides of the Pacific. These challenging times certainly call for wise and visionary leadership.

Many of the lyrics of this album are random & strange. But I guess there was lots of bizarre stuff happening in 1967. However the fantastic music & at times funny lyrics makes this album is a pleasure to listen to.

This was Dylan’s first fully rock album. Indeed 'Like a Rolling Stone' had a transformed rock music. Rolling Stone named this 6 minute epic as the greatest song ever.

My other favourite songs on this album are ‘Highway 61 Revisited' & ‘Desolation Row’. A song I'd like to hear is My Chemical Romance's cover of ‘Desolation Row’.